The Ultimate Checklist to Prepare your Car for Spring

Although it always takes some time for all the white stuff to melt away in Edmonton, spring will eventually come our way. The warm weather will slowly roll in, and we need to make sure that our cars get their “summer bods” too.

Here at Mac James Motors, we’ve put together a quick and handy checklist that will help you prepare your car for spring, and ensure you’re covering all of your bases.

Wash up!

With the constant exposure to snow, grime, and road salt for so many months, the undercarriage of your car will be needing a good cleaning. Allowing dirt and residue to remain on your vehicle will ruin its paint job and finish, and make way for rust.
If you do notice some rust on your vehicle, you should probably get rid of it right away. Here’s a helpful guide.

Get an oil change.

If you didn’t already know, there are different kinds of oil for different seasons. The viscosity of winter oil allows it to stay fluid at colder temperatures, while the viscosity of summer oil prevents it from becoming exceedingly thin during warm temperatures. Forgetting to change your oil will make your engine much work harder than it needs to, rapidly decreasing its life span.

Get a brake check-up.

Your brakes are one of the hardest working parts of your car. Without them, you’d die. Literally. So, it’s good to give the brakes their due attention, and ensure they are operating at peak efficiency. Get a technician to have a look at the brake pads, clean up the components, lubricate moving parts, and check for any potential mechanical failures. If your brake pads are running thin, don’t put it off. It’s not worth the risk.

Switch up your tires.

If you have been rocking winter tires for the last few months, the impending warmth is your cue to switch them up for their lighter alternatives. Winter tires are made of a softer compound, made to find traction on cold surfaces, and will wear out very quickly in warmer weather. The additional “stickiness” they provide will also create more resistance against your car as it moves, so you’ll be burning more gas when you drive.

Clean up that interior.

Winter means snow boots, slush, salt, dirt, and a whole bunch of other nasty elements tracked into your car. Your mats are probably long overdue for a shampoo (or a vacuum, at the very least!). If you have fabric interiors, give them a good shampoo too because they’ve likely taken in a lot of dampness over the last few months, and probably don’t smell as nice as before. Clean up the inside of your trunk, throw out all the garbage stashed in random places, and get a new air freshener for your car to usher in the new season.

And there you have it! Keep this page saved for your annual spring cleaning each year, and dedicate some time to take care of your best-friend-on-wheels. If you’re looking for a new-to-you car, take our quiz below to see which one matches best with your personality.